Jamestown, New York, offers a good example of a community microgrid design that begins by incorporating existing energy facilities, a strategy that can decrease project complexity and cost.
Rather than building all new infrastructure, the city has proposed a microgrid that will use an existing natural gas-fired power plant and district energy … [Read more...]

Before developing a community microgrid, it's important to engage the right experts and take into account certain market challenges, as detailed in this except from “Community Microgrids: A Guide for Mayors and City Leaders Seeking Clean, Reliable and Locally Controlled Energy.”
The value of a microgrid lies in its sophisticated ability to … [Read more...]

Last week we described how community microgrids keep the lights on during a crisis, as well as strengthen the central grid.
Here are two more good reasons for community microgrids, excerpted from our new report, “Community Microgrids: A Guide for Mayors and City Leaders Seeking Clean, Reliable and Locally Controlled Energy.”
3. Microgrids can … [Read more...]

New York showed itself as the nation’s leader in community microgrid development July 8 by awarding funds for an unprecedented 83 projects through its $40 million NY Prize.
No other state has made such a vigorous foray into this type of microgrid, which focuses largely on keeping critical facilities up and running in a community when the central … [Read more...]

It is clear why city leaders are turning their attention to community microgrids. Energy is the lifeblood of any contemporary community, and severe storms in recent years have revealed the vulnerability of the central grid.
The American electorate knows this and is concerned. In a March 2015 Gallup poll 88 percent of those surveyed described … [Read more...]

Towns and cities are awakening to the importance of community microgrids; to the value of gaining control over their energy supply, and ensuring that it is clean, efficient and secure.
Recent storms and power outages have accelerated the trend, as has the realization among local officials that developing local energy can help … [Read more...]

Industry Perspectives

Microgrids bring benefits to communities and cities, but economic barriers can stand in the way of their deployment. Mehdi Ganji, smart cities vice president at Willdan Energy Solutions, discusses the use of resilience tariffs to overcome these barriers in an interview with Yasmin Ali, Microgrid Knowledge contributor.

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